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Bronze Age comes
to Englewood Art
Center
May 18, 2006
By SHARYN LONSDALE
Read the article
below.
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Interested?
What:
Bronze sculpture lessons at
Englewood Art Center
When: June 3, 10 and 17
Where: Englewood Art Center,
350 S. McCall Road
Cost: $330 for members, $380
for nonmembers; includes
materials to make at least
one small work in bronze.
Information: 941-474-5548
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For an
artist, working in bronze
isn't easy and it isn't
cheap. But while a painting
may fade, a ceramic may
break and art glass is
subject to all sorts of
mishaps, a bronze sculpture
is permanent.
"It will last forever –
unless there's a meltdown or
a volcano," said Sean
Colson, who is teaching
bronze casting at the
Englewood Art Center.
Colson knows bronze. He
practically grew up in his
own Bronze Age. His father,
Frank Colson, is an
accomplished artist and
sculptor and established the
Colson School of Art in
Sarasota and built the
city's first art foundry.
Sean Colson, 45, has been
casting in bronze since he
was 14. He also paints,
teaches art and sculpture
and runs a mail-order
foundry supply business.
A member of the Englewood
Art Center, Colson wanted to
share his passion with
others. However, there were
a couple of problems. At
more than $300 for members,
the class was on the
expensive side. |
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And the art
center doesn't have a
foundry.
Colson decided to do it
anyway. All he needed was
two students and two words
-- road trip.
He got his two students.
Natalie Quinlan is a fixture
at the art center.
"I'm constantly taking
classes," she said. A potter
and sculptor, she had never
worked in bronze and decided
to take a chance.
She and Colson's other
student, Conrad Rosenberg,
said they signed on because
they liked the idea of
creating something permanent
and wanted a challenge.
They got the challenge.
While Rosenberg has worked
with a variety of materials,
including metal, he admitted
that molding a clump of wax
into a letter opener was
harder than he thought it
would be.
"I find it obstinate," he
said. "But I'm a complete
newbie," he said.
While Rosenberg focused on
creating the perfect letter
opener, Quinlan, who has
some experience with wax,
created three small abstract
sculptures.
Creating a wax model is the
first step in the process.
Once the artist is satisfied
with the wax figure, Colson
takes over at the Sarasota
foundry where he coats the
pieces in 10 layers of
ceramic, and the wax is
melted out, leaving a
ceramic shell. He then pours
molten bronze into the
shell. When it cools, the
shell is broken revealing
the sculpture inside.
The big risk at this point
is a miscast when the metal
is poured, the hot metal
breaking the mold. But, said
Colson, the smaller the
piece, the smaller the risk,
which is why he has the
students work on pieces that
that
will require less than
five pounds of metal.
When the students get
their piece back they
sand it and choose a
patina to finish it.
The entire process takes
the student 18 to 24
hours, and, Colson said,
he puts in a lot of
extra time.
"We come here and play
with the wax and he does
all the tedious tasks,"
said Rosenberg.
Colson said that he
hopes to eliminate the
need for a trip to
Sarasota by building a
bronze casting set-up at
the Englewood Art
Center. He said they
would do the wax and
ceramic shell work
inside and cast the
bronze outside. He said
the cost of the set-up
would be $700 or less,
and that he has the
support of the center to
start building in three
to six months.
"We're moving ahead," he
said
Rosenberg said he was
pleased with his letter
opener, which came out a
bit sharper and more
menacing than he
imagined.
"It's going to work --
too well," he joked.
Quinlan was thrilled
with her pieces and said
she plans to put at
least two "in very
conspicuous places." She
said she hopes Colson
does build a bronze
casting set-up in
Englewood.
"I think many people who
are into sculpture would
be very interested, as
permanent and forever as
bronze is," she said.
Rosenberg said he, too,
would work in bronze
again in a heartbeat,
even though it wasn't
easy.
"This is art that makes
your heart start
pumping."
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